Poem: Sheepshead Walk

Sheepshead Walk

Sheep’s Head Peninsula, County Cork, Ireland

I climbed with lovers over rocks today –

ahead, besides, sometimes behind,

on a track in Ireland called Poet’s Way –

The wind was cold and the sky was grey,

but the pace was brisk so we didn’t mind,

As I trudged through bog with lovers today –

Silent or laughing or chattering away,

with easy touch and eyes that shined,

on a track in Ireland called Poet’s Way –

It filled my heart to see them play,

and pause and hug and be so kind,

I pushed up hills with lovers today –

We climbed through styles and swept through hay,

stunned at the beauty that we’d find,

on a track in Ireland called Poet’s Way –

And we came at last where the lighthouse stays,

looked out to sea with the world behind –

I walked over fields with lovers today,

on a track in Ireland called Poet’s Way.

Editor’s note: This Poet’s Way is one of a series of long-distance hiking trails on the Sheep’s Head Peninsula. It was named for a number of local poets, of the 19th century back to those of the 16th. 

Paul Dignam, living in Adelaide since 1986 was born in Sydney and spent his childhood years there. In a career in psychiatry spanning over four decades, he had especial focus on child and adolescent mental health, along with holding senior clinical, leadership and lecturing roles. Retired and widowed, with many children and grandchildren, his further interests are in drawing, writing and reading, rowing and walking, and psychotherapy supervision. More can be found about Paul here. With his first published piece being in the 2011 edition of the Jesuit journal Eureka Street, Paul has found ‘an increasing sense of poetry as emotional diary, for the last twenty years or so’. 

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.